(Motorsport-Total.com) – Despite P2 in the second Free Practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, world champion Lando Norris remains extremely skeptical. “I am still not satisfied with the car,” was his assessment on Friday after both sessions. “It is still very, very difficult to drive, but we seem to be a bit closer.”
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“But,” said the world champion, “we are always quite close in Free Practice on Fridays. I think we just show more pace than some of our competitors. From what we can see, we have made some progress between FP1 and FP2 and are apparently quite competitive.”
In the first Free Practice, Oscar Piastri finished in fifth place, while Norris ended the session in seventh. Both were about four and eight tenths of a second behind Max Verstappen’s best time, respectively. Norris finished the second Free Practice just two tenths of a second behind leader Kimi Antonelli, while Piastri was almost a full second behind in sixth place.
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“We shouldn’t get too excited too early,” is Norris’s assessment. “We shouldn’t expect anything extraordinary.”
Furthermore, the McLaren driver emphasizes: “We lack deployment everywhere. Honestly, we lack it on every straight. It is worst in Blanchimont. We go from 320 km/h down to 270 because the battery just runs out. Therefore, we clip on every straight.”
The problem Norris and Piastri are struggling with on the Ardennes rollercoaster does not seem to affect the Mercedes factory team. Comparing the best times of Norris and Antonelli at GP pace, massive differences between the two cars are immediately noticeable.
On the way towards Eau Rouge, Norris loses a bit of speed compared to the Mercedes. In the downhill section, the MCL40 likely uses less electrical energy, which it then uses on the following Kemmel straight. However, Antonelli starts the “superclipping” earlier on the way towards the Les-Combes chicane.
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Also on the rest of the course, Norris uses his energy differently, for example at the exit of Pouhon. Here, the lap times of the two drivers are sometimes extremely close. Nevertheless, Antonelli ultimately remains superior and can use significantly more energy in Blanchimont, as Norris mentioned, and extend his lead.
“I think we still have some possibilities with deployment,” is the assessment of McLaren technical director Neil Houldey. “Everyone has opportunities for the rest of the weekend to find the perfect deployment.”
The technical director emphasizes that they are quite satisfied with the performance in Free Practice. Nevertheless, Houldey admits: “Lando got the most out of the car in the session. Therefore, I don’t think we are really in second place.”
In Spa, McLaren relies on modified rear wing endplates and a rear wing for lower drag. At Mercedes, in addition to a new rear wing, the Silver Arrows have also optimized the winglets on the rear axle and the front wing endplate.
Not only because of the upgrades, the picture after Friday remains unclear. Due to the high energy demand of the track and the question of the perfect deployment, the gaps in FP2 were unusually large. In addition, Norris will start the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend with a grid penalty due to new engine parts.